


As Dark as the Name

by PolarisAriesBlack



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Black Family, Dark Magic, F/M, Family Drama, Harry is the Black Heir, Harry is the son of Bellatrix Lestrange and James Potter, Light Magic, Pureblood!Harry, Rebirth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-23
Updated: 2015-11-11
Packaged: 2018-03-31 22:00:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3994456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PolarisAriesBlack/pseuds/PolarisAriesBlack
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry makes a different choice when he's in Kings Cross. His soul gets sent back in time to be reborn. His original plans for this second chance turn out to be harder than anticipated. What will it do to him to have Bellatrix Lestrange for a mother and James Potter for a father? To have to choose between one parent over another and to walk the fine line between light and dark. AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

By Polaris Aries Black

As Dark as the Name

Chapter 1

_Banner created by don'tcallmeLeeLee._

/ / / / /

"So what you're saying is I can either move on and be with my parents or go back to try to defeat Voldemort and hope for the best." Harry summarized what his old headmaster said. He scrubbed a hand down his face tiredly wishing helplessly that he could do more to save the people he loved and the ones he had lost. It didn't seem fair to him as his life had been just one big tragedy. The thought of just giving up was so very tempting.

"Yes, Harry those are your choices." Dumbledore said clasping his hands together in front of him.

There was silence for a moment between them before a seemingly harmless breeze swept through the station. It ruffled his hair and caused him to look up when his previous headmaster gasped softly.

"What?" Harry asked as he noticed the full on twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes as he looked over his half-moon spectacles at him.

"It seems that there is another option being presented to you," he said smiling down at his student.

"Oh," the boy perked up at this.

"Yes." Dumbledore paused before continuing as if he were listening to something only he could hear. "They are willing to send your soul back in time."

"So I can do it all over again and make it better?" Harry asked a smile appearing on his face.

"Yes and no." He answered which made the spark in the boy's emerald eyes dim. "You see, you would not being going back as Harry Potter, my boy."

"I don't understand, Professor."

"What I mean is you will not be Harry this time around, you would be reborn as someone else. Someone who has no chance of surviving so you could be put in their life, a person who died in your previous lifetime, as Harry Potter does not die any time soon so you cannot go back to being him. Do you understand?"

"Oh," Harry blinked. "I see," he ran his hand through his untamable locks trying to process everything. "Who would I be, then?"

The Headmaster frowned as another breeze swept past them.

"Some questions will be answered in time and even I do not know who you will be reborn as."

"How am I supposed to know if I made the right decision if I don't know who I will be? I really don't want to be a Malfoy." Harry grimaced at the possibility.

"This is something you should consider as there will be no guarantees of your new identity." Dumbledore advised although there was an amused twinkle in his eyes. Harry looked down for a moment and even though he paused before he answered he already knew what his decision was going to be. He would be taking this chance as they were too many people he could save even if he ended up being a Malfoy, another grimace crossed his face. There was only one problem with the plan of being reborn as someone else.

"Professor, will I have my memories?"

"Yes and no. There are events that must take place so your memory might be tampered with but you should have your memories back sometime before your Hogwarts years. I honestly cannot answer that question as thoroughly as you want me too." He stated with a sad look upon his aged face.

The wind picked up at the moment rushing around them.

"We're nearly out of time, my boy. Have you made your decision, yet?"

"I think I will go with the third option, but I have so many questions!"

"I'm sorry, but there really is no more time that we can spend here."

"Wait!" The pressure in the room was increasing feeling like it was squeezing him.

"Good luck, Harry."

That was the last thing he heard before everything went dark.

/ / / / /

_ August 20th, 1977 _

In a large bedroom at Lestrange Manor was a woman with sweat slicked curls going through the trials of labor after a long nine months of pregnancy. It seemed never ending and she already cursed the healer out multiple times, but nothing could speed up the process according to the midwife.

Bellatrix panted as another contraction swept her into a world of pain. She tried to distract herself with thoughts of how she ended up in this position. It was all due to the unsuspecting James Potter and she promised herself to her curse him into oblivion the next time she saw the Potter heir. She wouldn't have even tricked him into sleeping with her if not for the fact that her marriage contract was demanding an heir for both the Black and Lestrange families. Her husband Rodolphus was unable to provide a son because he was sterile.

And so it was up to Bella to seduce an unsuspecting pureblood into sleeping with her without a contraceptive charm being cast. It would have been difficult to manipulate someone her own age, but ickle James Potter had so easily fallen into her trap. The amount of firewhiskey he drank when he was in that pub in Knockturn Alley with her cousin Sirius made it possible for her to seduce him. Her blood traitor relative was too busy snogging some witch to notice that Bella had led his friend to a private room.

James may be a blood traitor, but the Potters had always been exceptionally powerful so she hoped it passed down to the child. Rodolphus planned to blood adopt her son when he turned five which would make him the Lestrange heir. It was a simple plan even though she wished they could just do it now. Unfortunately, it was known to kill any who tried to use the potion to children under the age of five and even she wasn't crazy enough to try it. She did not want to go through this pain for nothing.

It was sometime later when it was finally time to start pushing.

"Almost there, Lady Lestrange, just one more big push."

Bellatrix sneered at the woman but it quickly turned to a grimace of pain as another contraction had her cursing once more. The Healer kept on her encouragements before finally the baby was pushed free. The new Mother panted heavily as she listened to the babe's squalling. Merlin! She was tired.

"Congratulations it's a boy!" Healer Lee announced as she cleaned up the baby. She walked over to her exhausted patient and handed over the still crying baby.

Bellatrix looked down on the teary baby as she settled him more comfortably in her arms. The child had her dark hair and she could only hope that she didn't have to deal with the Potter hair, but she knew it was likely for him to be cursed with the bird nest of hair. If she made him grow it out when he was older it might make it more tamable, but she would worry about that later. He had her violet eyes and overall she was satisfied with him. Yes, he would be a good heir for the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black. She cackled at the thought that her son would become the next Lord Black. Of course, Regulus was next in succession to be the Head of their family but their Patriarch was not impressed with either of her Aunt Walburga and Uncle Orion's sons. He already had made hints to have her son be the heir. The face her Aunt made when he said that at their last family meal was truly entertaining.

The Healer finished healing Bellatrix and making sure that there was no damage to her body. "He should be hungry," she explained helping the new mother learn how best to nurse the baby.

/ / / / /

Rabastan was reading a book in the sitting room on an interesting topic of Grey Magic. He didn't know why his family owned it since there hadn't been a wizard with a Grey core in a couple centuries. The Lestrange's had always been Dark so it made little sense that they would own this type of book. It didn't matter anyways as reading it was taking his mind off of what was happening upstairs with Bellatrix.

His brother Rodolphus was not even home while his wife was giving birth. The Dark Lord had called all of his Inner Circle to him for a meeting. Rabastan could only be glad that he was still thirteen and much too young to serve their Lord. It wasn't because he was unsympathetic to the cause. He did agree with their ideals. The problem was he had seen his brother and his wife coming home after having been punished by the Dark Lord. It also didn't help that a lot of pureblood families were being murdered. No matter what side they were fighting for they were still from noble families. He kept his opinions to himself and behind strong occlumency barriers, because his thoughts could easily get him killed.

It was a couple hours later, he was almost halfway through the book, when a house elf popped in front of him. The elf gave a curtsy, "Tippy be telling young Master that little one is born. Mistress Bellatrix tell Tippy to have Master Rabastan inform Lord Black."

Rabastan sighed shutting the book closed. "Of course Bella would make me do it since my dear brother isn't home." He stood up from his seat. "Put this away in my room Tippy." The little elf left after taking it from him. He had to decide what he wanted to do first. A part of him wanted to go see the baby. If only for the fact that he was his nephew and he was curious to see him. Of course, he wouldn't be his nephew by blood since Rodolphus hadn't blood adopted him yet. But it was only a matter of time before that happened. He knew all about the fact of James Potter being the biological father. He still found it funny how easy it was for Bella to trick the drunk fool.

Deciding it best to go let Lord Black know of the successful birth instead of going to see the baby. He smoothed his dark silver robes down as he made his way across the room to the fireplace. He took a pinch of floo powder and threw it into fireplace. The flames immediately turned green. Rabastan knelt down to floo call Black Manor since he didn't know if the wards would allow him to pass through if he were just to floo there. It would also be rude of him if he were just to show up. Rude and disrespectful. Those two things were what he would always do his best not to do whenever he had to interact with Arcturus Black. The elder man was powerful politically and in magic. In truth, Rabastan was a little intimidated by him.

"Black Manor!"

He opened his eyes to see the entrance hall of the spacious and bright Manor to which the Lord Black resided. A pop brought his attention to the head house elf.

"What business do yous have with Master Black?"

"I would like to inform him of the status of the new member of the House of Black." He said firmly trying to hide how nervous he was. This really was supposed to be his brother's job, and it would look bad for sending the 'spare' of House Lestrange to bring news as important as this to the Head of the family they had initiated a marriage contract with.

The elf came back in a moment later. "Yous be allowed to comes through."

Rabastan nodded. He stood back up and took another pinch of floo powder and stepped into the fireplace. "Black Manor!" He said once more only this time he was stepping out gracefully into the entrance hall. After clearing away the soot from this form of traveling with a wave of his wand. It was a perk of being in a home with wards that allowed underage magic. Most pureblood homes had such wards including Lestrange Manor.

He followed the house elf further on the first floor bypassing the stairs. They stopped when they came upon the closed door of what Rabastan thought would be Lord Black's study if what he had heard from Rodolphus was true. There was a lot of black and silver decorations they had passed as those were the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black's family colors. The elf knocked on the door.

"Enter." Came the deep voice from within.

After taking a deep calming breath in, he walked into the warm study. Unlike the other Black property, Grimmauld Place, this place was open and warm not cold and dark. There was a fireplace off to the corner and above the mantel was the crest of House of Black. It was of a Grim with two silver and ebony swords crossed behind it. The words 'Toujours pur' written along on the bottom. There were shelves made of dark mahogany filled with books and journals of previous Lord Blacks.

Rabastan stepped into the room and gave a half bow to the elder man. His cobalt eyes looked up once he straightened from the bow. The man in front of him had salt and pepper shoulder length hair and his gray eyes were piercing him where he stood. It made him feel so very small so he was quick to respond to the silent permission to state his business.

"My Lord Black, it is with the greatest of news I have come to speak to you about. Hydrus Arcturus Black was born." Rabastan personally thought Bella and Rodolphus were sucking up to the influential Lord, but he guessed he understood why they were doing it. It would be a boon to them if they were able to get their hands on the Black Fortune. Although he personally thought that Arcturus had plans if Hydrus was his heir to keep his money away from the war. It was no secret that Black was neutral even though some of his family were Death Eaters. If Hydrus was named heir Rabastan didn't think Arcturus would allow him to be marked. Bellatrix would be devastated. He knew the moment it was announced she was having a boy she had made plans to make him the perfect little Death Eater.

"Hmm very good. I would like to see the child eventually so I may judge him myself, but that won't be for a while yet," Lord Black said. "Tell me, Rabastan why it is you giving me important news such as this."

Rabastan withheld the grimace to keep his neutral expression on his face. It was an embarrassment to House of Lestrange to have the Father of the heir not there to announce the news himself. "My apologies, Lord Black. My brother was called away to a meeting by him." He stressed the last word, but he had no doubt Arcturus' sharp mind would pick up on the fact the meeting was with the Dark Lord.

He was surprised to see the look of distaste appear on Arcturus' face and breaking his usually indifferent expression. His shock must have showed on his face because the elder man waved a hand to a chair in front of his desk. Rabastan took the offered seat and schooled his features so his surprise wasn't showing so clearly on his face.

"War is here, Rabastan. This you know of course," he carefully chose his words. "But I ask myself this. Who is right? Albus Dumbledore or the Dark Lord?" Lord Black paused scrutinizing Rabastan as if seeing if he was worthy of what Arcturus was going to say. "I will be frank with you since I know no one else will. No one in this war is right."

There was a heavy silence and the teen tried his best not to gape at him. "I don't understand." He finally settled on saying when he pulled himself together. Arcturus had an amused smile grace his face before getting serious once more.

"It's simple really. There has to be a balance between Light and Dark. Magic is dying out because of the imbalance between both types of magic. I may hate the Light, but the only reason I do is because they are a suffocating bunch of fools and don't understand that Dark Magic has a purpose. The Dark is no better than the Light, because killing so many of us when we are a small population is setting us up for failure." He stated with a passion that told Rabastan how much the man felt about it. "You must be wondering why I am telling you this. Especially when you are most likely to follow into your brother's footsteps."

The teen nodded because he had been wondering what this was about.

"I know change is on the horizon. I could feel it the moment Bellatrix was informed she was pregnant. The Black Family Magic has almost been singing with anticipation and it is not something I have ever felt in my lifetime. It is why I want to make young Hydrus my heir if he could set off the magic of our family like that."

Now it made sense to Rabastan on why Lord Black would choose someone on the distaff side to be heir when Regulus was more than capable of providing a son when he was out of school and married.

"The only problem I foresee is the fact that Bellatrix will do her best to raise a son who would be willing to sacrifice his life for the Dark Lord. She will no doubt try to get ahold of the Black fortune to use for her Lord." Arcturus sneered at this. "I have many plans in place for Hydrus' wellbeing. I think you may be able to help further protect my young heir since you will be living with him."

"I'll be going back to school soon, Lord Black."

"I know, however I have plans in place to protect Hydrus. Although he will need someone he could go to when he is older. I would like you to be that person. You do not need to answer right now as you should think about all I am asking of you. I have tested your occlumency barriers and I am quite satisfied with your shields."

Rabastan frowned while he strengthen his shields not having felt the intrusion on his mind. "I will think on this. I'm not sure what I believe to be honest."

Arcturus opened a desk drawer after taking out his wand and unlocking it. He pulled out a worn journal and handed it over to Rabastan. "This will be able to explain better what I have told you. It was written by a good friend of mine who entrusted it to me."

The journal had no title or author name, but he could feel the protection spells covering it and the pages within. It was made of ebony leather with a buckle of sliver keeping it closed. It was thick and Rabastan knew he would not be able to read it all tonight.

"You will be the only one able to read what is within the book. It has a protection similar to the Fidelius Charm where only the secret keeper, which is me, will be able to share what's written inside of it. To anyone else it will be blank. Once you have finished reading it I would like for you to come and see me so we may be able to discuss it."

"Yes Lord Black."

Rabastan left then with a lot to think about.

He was heading to his room to start reading the journal but he stopped as he passed the nursery. Stepping into the darkened room he walked over to the crib to see Hydrus sleeping peacefully. The baby was tiny much smaller than he had expected but then again he had never seen a newborn. At the moment the baby didn't know the horrors of the world and was so very innocent. He remembered what Arcturus said about the family magic's reaction to the babe. He wondered what made it react so strongly to the little being in the crib, but he likely would not have an answer until Hydrus was older.

Could he do what Lord Black asked of him?

Did he want to protect the little heir from those who wanted to harm him or turn him into the perfect soldier?

That was a question he needed to have an answer for and Rabastan knew that one question would change everything in his life depending on what he decided.


	2. Chapter 2

 

**By Polaris Aries Black**

**As Dark as the Name**

**Chapter 2**

**Thank you for reading chapter 1!  
**

**I'm not completely happy with this chapter, but I think I've already taken too long writing it so I just stopped playing around with it.  
**

**/ / / / /**

_August 23_ _rd_ _, 1977_

In the corner up against the window of the nursery was a young teen sitting in a rocking chair with a small bundle in his arms. The sound of a light suckling filled the otherwise quiet room as the baby greedily had his full of the mother's milk that had been taken so Bellatrix didn't need to constantly nurse the baby.

Rabastan knew she wanted to put as much distance as she could between herself and her son Hydrus. At least until he was old enough to properly talk. If that meant leaving him in the care of house elves than he knew she would do it. The thought of this neglect had him spending as much time as he could with the baby on his own. He took care of keeping these visits to the nursery a secret as much as he could.

Although it was unlikely for Rodolphus or Bella to notice him much especially with school starting up soon and it made it all the easier to slip away unnoticed to go take care of Hydrus. His brother was busy attending to matters involving being Lord Lestrange which he had become Head of House when their father died in a raid a year ago. And Bellatrix was _supposed_ to be resting, but was more likely to be simpering at her Lord or torturing muggles because to her that was resting.

It was no secret that Bellatrix loved the Dark Lord and only put up with Rodolphus due to the marriage contract between House Black and House Lestrange. It wouldn't surprise him in the least if Bella warmed the Dark Lord's bed. In pureblood marriages it wasn't unheard of if both spouses had lovers as long as they kept it quiet and never made their feelings public. So Bellatrix was shaming the House of Lestrange every time she made her feelings known for their Lord. Rabastan didn't know how his brother felt about his wife making it so public to everyone that they didn't have the perfect marriage. Rodolphus usually had a blank expression in public that gave nothing away of his feelings.

As brothers they had never been really close due to their age difference. It didn't bother Rabastan when he was younger because he knew not to dare act on the impulse of trying to cling to his elder brother when he had been a child because Rodolphus was not one to give him the time of day. It was the same with his father who hadn't paid the least bit of attention to his youngest son, because he had been so busy with the Dark Lord and trying to push their ideals onto the Wizengamot and molding his heir to follow in his footsteps.

The only one in his family he had been close to was his mother, Gwyneth Lestrange née Blishwick. She was the most beautiful out of all the Ladies of her age. To him she shone just as brightly from the inside as she did on the outside. It was widely known in many social circles that Ramses, their father, had the most attractive Lady on his arm. She had passed on her icy blue eyes onto him and Rodolphus, but they didn't get her golden hair. They had ebony hair with slight waves, but not enough to be the kind of curls she had. Out of the two of them Rabastan was the one to most resemble her as he had many of her features in his face. He knew he was good looking compared to his brother who, unfortunately, inherited too much from their rather plain Father.

Gwyneth loved him with all her heart and spent the most time with him compared to anyone else in the family. She would tell him that he was the son she would instill everything she knew into. It was very common in most traditional pureblood families that the heir to the family would learn from the father and the son would be expected to answer to him as well. So she put more investment into making Rabastan a gentleman she could be proud of. It was devastating to him when she passed on before her time as she had died of Dragonpox. Rabastan was ten years old at the time and lost all the support he had grown to depend on.

Turning his thoughts away from his mother he thought of his conversation with Lord Black once more. His decision was made the moment he held Hydrus in his arms for the first time. It just felt right becoming his protector. Rabastan couldn't explain the feeling, but he was a person who followed his instincts. And his instincts were telling him that the baby would end up being very important to him. He was going to go to Black Manor before school started to let Arcturus know, but he wanted to get a little further into reading the journal the elder man gave him. It was an interesting read so far and he found himself agreeing with the author while reading it. The beginning was all the known theories on the balance of Light and Dark magic. He hadn't gotten very far into what the writer was thinking, but from what he read he found himself wanting to meet the person who wrote the journal. He was sure their conversation would be intriguing.

Rabastan was brought out of his thoughts when Hydrus stopped drinking from the bottle and was trying to spit the teat out of his mouth. He put the bottle down on the side table and grabbed the towel that was there to put on his shoulder. Tippy was very helpful in teaching him how to take care of the newborn properly and so Rabastan was quickly becoming an expert on all things baby. He gently rested the baby against his chest so Hydrus' chin was at his shoulder. Slowly he patted his back to get him to burp. After cleaning away the little bit of milk that had come up from Hydrus' mouth he cradled the baby once more in his arms. He rocked gently in the chair in order to help the newborn fall asleep.

Never in his life did he think he would do this. His father had been of the mind that children were best raised by house elves, but Rabastan knew his mother had been there for him when he was a baby. She would always try to embarrass him with little stories of his babyhood. She had lived a lonely life despite having a husband and an older son. The heir she couldn't really be there for and Ramses didn't have time for her with all the obligations he had to deal with. When she gave birth to Rabastan the loneliness was all but gone. Now he could understand her more now than before Hydrus was born. He never realized just how much he was left on his own. Of course, he had plenty of people he talked with at school, but none of them were what he could call friends. First off, in Slytherin friends were more alliances than anything else or at least it was that way for him. He wasn't very high on the hierarchy since he was not an heir, but at least he wasn't at the bottom. So Rabastan more often than not was alone. It was no longer the case anymore now because of Hydrus. He would probably be his only company in the dark manor of Lestrange.

He would tell Lord Black his decision before leaving for Hogwarts and he also wanted to know what Arcturus planned to do to protect Hydrus. Rodolphus may not be a problem, but Rabastan didn't trust Bellatrix as far as he could throw her.

**/ / / / /**

Arcturus walked with purpose towards the informal dining room located in the large home of the Blacks. He was dressed in obsidian colored robes that made his dark gray eyes stand out even more than usual. It also had the benefit of making him seem intimidating and stern with his aged face. Any time he had to deal with his family he made sure to always give off an aura of power so that no one would dare to try his patience. It would make the meeting go smoothly with the relatives that he had chosen to call upon if they respected him and feared him just a little. Since the moment he became Lord Black he did his best to be lead his family in a way his father did not.

The only thing he hadn't anticipated was the rise of the upstart Dark Lord. Arcturus knew he could have stopped the younger generation from joining the monster even the ones who had married into the family. He did have primacy after all since their houses were of a lower status than his. The reason he chose to not interfere when they joined him was for the reason that although he had absolute power over them he did not feel it was time for him to get involved yet with the war. It was an instinct he had and the Lord Black was not one to ignore his gut feelings.

Yes, his family was following a dark and twisted path, but he knew that the hope for the future of his house lay not with them. He was proven correct when Bella announced her pregnancy. Just as he told the Lestrange boy that the family magic has been quite active with the pending arrival of Hydrus. Now that the child was born he could feel it trying to claim the babe as its own. The boy was what would save his house from destruction of that Arcturus was sure. It was the reason he wanted to play a large role in the upbringing of his heir to ensure he was going to be ready to be the next Lord Black.

Finally, he came upon the dining room which the table had already been set for lunch. There would be a few of his relatives showing up so that he can hash out his plan for Hydrus. He had thought about calling upon Rabastan, but had decided it better that if he was to protect the heir than he should be kept as secret as possible. Again that all depended on the teen's choice on what he planned to do. He felt that the boy would do as asked especially after reading the journal Arcturus had given him.

Now all he had to do was get the members of his family he had decided would help in his endeavor to raise a Lord Black who would take his place. One that could lead their family to walk the fine line between Light and Dark and keep the balance that Magic demanded.

**/ / / / /**

**Reviews might help me get over the writer's block plaguing me!**

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews are most welcomed and appreciated. :)


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